London: UK's Defence Secretary Dr Liam Fox, in-charge of air strikes on Libya, has moved out of his London flat to a secure government apartment over fears of a possible terrorist attack, a media report said.
The minister, who has now moved into a two-bedroom apartment at the historic 225-year-old Admiralty House in Whitehall, was also provided with a chauffeur-driven, bomb-proof limousine, the 'Daily Mail' reported.
Scotland Yard first raised concerns over Dr Fox's security arrangements when his Central London flat was burgled nearly a year ago. When a second flat in the same gated block suffered the same fate later in the year, the police advised him to move to a more secure London location.
"A security assessment of the defence secretary's home has raised serious concerns over his protection. Despite wanting to stay where he was and the freedom of his own home - where he has lived for the past decade -- he has had to move out," a senior source was quoted as saying.
Sources close to Dr Fox said he would now sell his old flat - and would return any capital gains to parliamentary authorities when the sale went through. The minister has also planned to stop claiming his MP's second-home allowance for the old flat, the report said.
The defence secretary's apartment at Admiralty House would cost the British government GBP 95,000-a-year to run, whether it is occupied or not.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, April 17, 2011, 16:02